In continuing on the tradition of there being never a dull moment on The Real Brian Show, YouTube comedian and emotional life coach JP Sears (and his creative muse) join Brian this week!
In This Episode
- Meet JP Sears, the character
- The real JP Sears emerges!
- Nerding out about creativity
- Using humor to help, not to hurt.
- Avoidance creates deeper wounds.
- JP talks about WHAT holds us back from unleashing our own superhero
- What's next for JP?
Awaken with JP
Comedy, in its classical conception, was designed as a means to relate humans as social beings rather than the privatization of some of life's most basic elements. By holding up a hypothetical mirror, and reflecting the perceptions of idiocy or awkwardness through the lens of culture, an almost healing awareness is drawn. It is incredibly fascinating to me that comedy's origins can be found in Aristotle, from whom we derive our notions of Western philosophy. From the same man who gave us writings on everything from physics to ethics to poetry, we also get an understanding of comedy dutifully representing man's below-average participation in the mundane life.
Mundane, of course, is a matter of perspective. But the brilliance of comedy is its ability to turn something mundane into a caricature. Where comedy is most effective is where it can imitate something naturally while drawing attention to the aspects of it which are ridiculous. 
Mundane can be quite funny; dry, sarcastic humor, for example. Many of my favorite sitcoms, including The Office, Parks & Recreation and The I.T. Crowd are all concerned with very mundane everyday life situations that are told in caricatures.
JP Sears falls into this category as well. While we wouldn't consider him, or his material, mundane, he deals with a lot of topics that are just everyday life sort of things. Embracing humor and incorporating that into his professional life has only increased his sense of worth and his ability to reach out and touch on very core, fundamental concepts in everyday life.
A Balance Of Humor and Logic
The conversation Brian and JP Sears have is such a great representation of the balance between humor and logic. Using humor to first expose some of the ridiculousnesses of life and culture, they follow it up with a real discussion about how some of these ridiculousnesses can actually hold us back from releasing our own superhero. From avoidance, which increases tension, to a lack of vulnerability, which increases avoidance, sometimes our lives don't have enough to diffuse the things that make it so serious and so seriously difficult.
How many times have we heard not to take ourselves too seriously? The advice celebrities give, when asked about how to make it to where they are, its always something like, "Don't take yourself too seriously!" It doesn't mean we can't take our dreams or goals seriously; it doesn't mean that we can't be ambitious or focused. Taking ourselves less seriously means being able to distinguish between what is common and what is ridiculous. It means being vulnerable about the hard things in order to let go of their domination over our psyche.
A popular song right now is Let It Go by James Bay. Other than it's catchy rhythm and great vocals, I'm drawn to the lyrics.
But now we're slipping at the edge
Holding something we don't need
All this delusion in our heads
Is gonna bring us to our kneesSo come on, let it go
Just let it be
Why don't you be you
And I'll be me?
watch / listen
The song isn't necessarily about taking oneself less seriously, but it does have a lot to do with facing situations honestly. There comes a time when we realize that the way we've been living doesn't work anymore, and that lends significantly to what humor helps to alleviate. It helps us take an honest look at what life is like, take it a little less seriously, and deal with the problems at hand.
Links
- Awaken with JP! Learn more...
- JP on Facebook
- JP's YouTube channel
- Ultra Spiritual (the YouTube series)